08 May 2024

22 Arizona police officers punished so far in 2024 | Phoenix New Times

Arizona's law enforcement watchdog has opened misconduct investigations into 25 cops and punished 22 from around the state so far this year, including an officer who put the muzzle of his gun to a woman’s head and another who asked two high school girls when they had lost their virginity.

Violent, creepy cops:

22 Arizona police officers punished so far in 2024
The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board has investigated 25 cops for misconduct this year. Here's what it found.

By TJ L'Heureux

May 6, 2024

Known as AZPOST, the agency is one of the few in the state with the power to discipline police. Its principal task is certifying all officers across the state, but it also has the power to revoke or suspend the certifications of officers who demonstrate troubling behavior. . .
Here are some of the most egregious police misconduct cases AZPOST has heard since January.

Mesa officer Clinton Bertola was suspended and ultimately resigned after asking suggestive questions of two teenage girls whose car he stopped.

Elias Weiss

Mesa officer gets creepy

In March 2023, Mesa cop Clinton Bertola stopped a car he spotted doing doughnuts in the parking lot of a local park. Two people, both female high school students, were in the car. Bertola’s missteps started immediately, according to Assistant Attorney General Joe Dylo’s presentation to the board in January. Bertola was required to inform his dispatcher about the stop and turn on his body camera, but he did neither. Operating without supervision, Bertola got creepy.
The driver gave Bertola her license, but the passenger lacked one and offered the officer a copy of her high school identification on her phone. Dylo said Bertola then took both back to his patrol vehicle, where he went through the girl’s phone without her consent. When he returned, he asked the passenger whether she was wearing a bra and asked both girls when they had lost their virginity. He told them they were dressed like 20-year-olds and scantily clad.
“As a mother of three girls, I can see no justification for that kind of conversation with high school girls,” Leesa Weisz, a civilian board member, said during the January meeting.
Bertola resigned in the wake of the incident. In February, the board unanimously accepted a consent agreement with Bertola and suspended Bertola’s license until June 2026, when it will expire. Bertola will be able to reapply for certification after the end of the suspension. . ."

TJ L'HEUREUX is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he’s primarily focused on news since September 2023. Before joining the New Times staff, TJ worked at Arizona State University's Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. He was also recognized for best community service project/reporting in the 2023 EPPY Awards. TJ holds a master's degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in public policy and Latin American studies from the University of Chicago.

CONTACT: TJ L'Heureux

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Twitter: @tjlheureux0

SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY // Fed’s Collins: Reaching Inflation Goal May Take Longer Than Thought

Money Funds Start Shuffling Assets Ahead of SEC Rule Changes

U.S. fund managers are preparing for regulatory shift in October JPMorgan expects reforms to have less impact than 2016 changes

Federal Register

Federal Register :: Money Market Fund Reforms

___________________________________________________________________________

Bloomberg.com

an hour ago

Money Funds Start Shuffling Assets Ahead of SEC Rule Changes - Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Funds are starting to shift their holdings in the $6 trillion US money market ahead of a spate of new rules that will likely boost demand for government securities at the expense of riskier assets.

As of mid-April, about five of these funds — including the two largest — had announced plans to convert to government-only holdings or close altogether to avoid Securities and Exchange Commission measures that take effect later this year.

Starting in October, the changes mean it’ll get more expensive to withdraw money from some funds in times of financial stress.
The shift in holdings means increased demand for government-backed instruments ranging from Treasury bills and agency discount notes to repurchase agreements, while reducing demand for commercial paper and certificates of deposit.

That appetite for government debt could drive short-term rates lower, once again making a key Federal Reserve overnight facility more alluring as cash sloshes around the financial system in search of a place to invest.

“When this reshuffling occurs depends on two factors: the timing of planned conversions and how long institutional investors are willing to stay in soon-to-be converted funds,” Barclays Plc strategist Joseph Abate wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. “So far there are only a few signs of the shift from credit to government assets or fund outflows.”
There’s about $650 billion parked at institutional prime funds, with about $605 billion concentrated in 20 entities, Barclays estimates.
And eight so-called internal funds — which are only open to other money market and mutual funds within the complex — account for 60% of balances.

Barclays expects institutional prime fund balances to fall roughly 63% to 75% by October, putting the total amount of assets remaining between $150 billion to $250 billion, and boosting balances in government-only funds by $400 billion to $500 billion.

For government-only funds, demand will be roughly split in similar amounts between Treasuries, agency debt and repo — which is large enough to absorb the anticipated net issuance in second half of the year, according to Abate.

As little as $50 billion could flow into the Fed’s reverse repurchase agreement facility, or RRP, though there’s a risk demand climbs much more if public-facing prime funds chose to raise holdings of same-day cash ahead of potential redemptions.

Overall, the impact of rule changes is expected to be more subdued than the last series of reforms in 2016.

In the runup to that deadline, about $1 trillion left the institutional prime space for the government-only sector.
Such a significant shift in cash caused the spread between three-month commercial paper and overnight index swaps to widen by 32 basis points.

This time, though, institutional prime funds only make up 45% of the prime money-market space — versus more than 70% in 2016.

That should “meaningfully reduce” the impact of this round of reforms, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists led by Teresa Ho.
The buyer base for commercial paper is also more diversified now, with money funds comprising about 24% at the end of 2023, and others like corporates, state and local governments playing a much larger role.

“The scale of the impact as a result of reforms will not be anywhere close to what we saw in 2016,” Ho wrote in a note. “That’s not to say the risk of wider spreads could not transpire in the coming months, but we believe they will be driven by other factors.”